Tales from the Remnant Frontier
by spartan448
Summary: What if the Grimm had been eradicated one-hundred years before Ruby's time, starting a Gold Rush like dash for territory in the frontiers of Remnant? Tales from the Remnant Frontier features the protagonists of RWBY, and a few new faces, recounting stories from a Remnant that seems like a John Wayne movie, complete with duels and Mexican Standoffs galore.
1. Foreward

**Forward: "Parallel Worlds, Alternate Universes"**

The Theory of parallel development states that for every instance of an object, there will be at least one other copy of that object in the universe, exactly the same, save for one major difference. And that difference could be anything – As minor as a country having a different name, or as major as history itself taking a dramatic turn in another direction. That is what happened on _this_ Remnant. At first glance, this Remnant is so very similar to the one we already knew. But from up here, the difference becomes clear if you wait for night – _lights_. Those are what betray how history here has changed. Lights crop up across the land, not just in the capitols of the four Kingdoms. On this Remnant, a band of heroes assembled and managed to destroy the Grimm, almost 100 years before they were supposed to be destroyed.

As a result, the expansion of civilization increased rapidly, much faster than the landscape could compensate for, which caused the land in many areas began to become barren and arid. But this did not stop the flow of bodies, no, it only increased it. For with vegetation gone, huge veins of Dust were revealed. And it was the exposing of this precious resource that triggered the first Dust Rush. Settlements of 50 or more popped up almost overnight. Rail lines were built within the week. By the end of the first month, major mining companies had already begun moving across the frontier, scrambling to secure mines before their competitors could. Of course, with all this money lying there just ripe for the taking, and with folks as spread out as they were, the opportunity presented itself for those not wanting to slave in the mines to acquire a fortune by… less than respectable means.

And so because of this, despite civilization having largely forgotten about the Grimm except in fairy tales, the great Hunter academies remained open, though now not training children to fight Grimm, but to fight outlaws, bandits, scalwags, and other criminals, by training them to serve as Sheriffs and Vigilantes. And while this did nothing to stem the rate of crime, it certainly made the endeavors much less successful. It did, however, have the side effect of immortalizing lawmen and outlaws alike for their legendary exploits, whether or not they were true.

This is one such story, or rather, a story of a story. This is a retelling of one of the many legendary exploits of Sherrif Ruby Rose and her friends and companions, by some of those involved.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: "Once Upon a Time in Remnant"**

**Abaline District, 5 miles outside of the City of Vale**

**Present Day**

Abaline was one of the first settlements to go up during the Dust Rush. Despite this, though, it never had the chance to grow, as people simply used it as a waypoint in getting to settlements farther out. As a result, Abaline has remained a quiet town of no more than fifty people in residence. It sees enough trade to keep its economy afloat, and it is completely free from the worries of bandits and outlaws that pervade in the farther settlements. Unlike the bars in the great settlements on the plains, the Abaline Pub has never had a famous outlaw or sheriff sitting down to drink. That is, until the night it got the most famous collection of outlaws, mercenaries, sheriffs, and vigilantes all coming through during the same month. It all started around 5 O'clock in the afternoon on a July evening. The Abaline Pub had but six occupants – The bartender, a stout fellow named Argyle, age fifty-three; The barmaid, a woman with blazing orange hair who went by the name of Carrot, age thirty-four; The energetic prodigal son of the Carlton family, Jay Carlton, who was considering applying to become a student at Beacon the next year, age sixteen; A woman in a scarlet cloak who sat at the bar away from the others, mostly keeping to herself. On her person was a six-shot revolver, and an old lever-action repeater made from Cherry tree wood; The only person in the Pub older than Argyle, Corcran Dayle, eighty-six, who was engaged in a rather tense game of chess with his companion, Billy "quick-hands" Wayne, age fourty-seven, and the town Sheriff. Billy, too, had a six-shooter at this side. No matter who they were, the important thing is that everyone had mostly kept to their own little private conversations – Billy and Corcran engaged in their game of chess, with Jay constantly hounding Billy to recount tales of his time at Beacon, while Argyle and Carrot listened on, occasionally stopping to fill a drink order of the woman in Scarlet who was content to keep her musings to herself. Then, they heard horses.

Three riders on horses rode up to the Pub. They appeared to be mercenaries, given their myriad of various tools of destruction. The first rider dismounted his horse and landed on the ground with a thud, accompanied by the metallic clanking of his rifle and something else at his side that resembled a cavalry sabre. At the sound of this, all of the occupants, save for the woman in scarlet, turned their heads to the saloon-style doors of the pub. The rider said something incomprehensible to his compatriots, and then entered the Pub. All at once, those observing felt an uncanny sense of familiarity wash over them – They all recognized this man from somewhere, but with the man's hat partially covering his face, no-one could say for certain just who he was, and the plethora of weapons on the man certainly didn't encourage anyone to go up and ask him. Well, except for Jay, that is, who excitedly walked up to the new arrival, with a novel about lawmen and outlaws clutched in his left hand.

"'Scuse me, sir," said Jay. "Might I inquire as to your name, sir?" The mercenary clearly wasn't expecting to be approached so bluntly. He stopped suddenly, and turned slightly so as to gaze at the young man addressing him. Before him stood a short-statured boy whose hair was a cool sky blue, with streaks of white and black, and whose eyes gave off a bluish tint. The boy stood around four foot ten inches high, had an average build, and couldn't have been much older than sixteen or seventeen. Kid seemed to have an air of confidence around him, and a smile crossed the mercenary's lips – he'd give the boy a bit of a test before he gave his name, make the kid earn his reward.

"Who's askin'?" said the mercenary, attempting to replicate the voice of a grizzly veteran of war, but only managing to sound like he had a cold.

"Name's Jay Carlton, sir, age sixteen." replied Jay. The mercenary turned around, and took the boy before him, this Jay, in full measure. The mercenary had to admit, he was impressed so far – the kid hadn't backed down. That's when the mercenary noticed the novel.

"What'cha got there, boy?" said the mercenary. "Some kinda novel, is it?" As soon as the mercenary mentioned the novel, Jay's demeanor changed from one of confidence to one of excitement. It seemed to the mercenary that he had touched upon the boy's passion, but was it reading, or something else? He had a feeling the boy would tell him. At this point, all the regulars' eyes were on the mercenary and Jay. The woman in scarlet continued to focus on her drink. Jay launched into his explanation.

"Oh, why yes sir it is a novel! A novel about some of the most famous battles between lawmen and outlaws! That's what I want to be someday – a lawman! I've been savin' up to go to Beacon next year." At this, the mercenary's eyes widened a bit. He hadn't seen anyone with a desire to become a Sheriff like this kid had in many years. But it wasn't just the kid's enthusiasm that surprised the mercenary, rather, it was the woman in scarlet. Out of the corner of his eye, the mercenary noticed her glance over towards the boy when Beacon was mentioned. The mercenary had an idea of who she was. He could keep playing this cryptic little game with the boy, but the mercenary had a hunch that things would get much more interesting if he finally revealed himself instead.

"Beacon, huh?" said the mercenary. "Ya know I spent some time at Beacon myself. Wasn't a full time student, on account of being a mercenary and all. But I took the same classes as the regular students, and did the same things they did as well, and that was good for more than a few adventures. Reckon it was about thirty-five years ago I was there." And with this, the atmosphere in the room changed dramatically. They all knew the stories, stories about how a group of sheriffs-in-training, along with a few other assorted individuals, banded together when the lawlessness of the frontiers threatened to erupt into full-on revolution. Stories of how a bunch of kids defeated a band of murderous rebels, and brought the most feared outlaw gang in the frontiers to justice. All thanks to a posse lead by the woman known as the Sheriff of Patch – Ruby Rose, who thirty-five years ago, was a freshman student at Beacon University. Jay looked down at his novel, a book which claimed to be an account of the exploits of the Rose posse. He considered the legendary people in those stories to be his heroes – could this mercenary be able to tell him about those legendary figures?

"Pardon me, sir, but does that mean you know some of the people who were in the Rose posse?" said Jay. And hearing this, the mercenary couldn't help but laugh.

"Know someone from the Rose posse? Boy, I was _in_ the Rose posse! My name, if you hadn't deduced it already from that little clue, is Alexander Steele. Thirty-seven years ago my parent's untimely deaths thrust me into command of the Steele Gunners Mercenary Company, and Thirty-five years ago, while attending Beacon, I lent the strength of my Gunners to Ruby Rose and her posse to avenge the death of my parents." And with that statement, the eyes of everyone in the room grew wide, especially young Jay's. Though to be fair, any surprise Jay might have had at having the good fortune to meet an actual member of the Rose posse was immediately superseded by what he heard next, for the woman in scarlet had decided to finally speak.

"I thought you sounded familiar." said Ruby. "So what brings the leader of the Steele Gunners to a small town like this?"

"Oh, nothing major. We've some business in Vale proper, and wanted to stay somewhere a bit quieter while we were here." replied Alexander. "But what about you? What brings the illustrious Sheriff of Patch here? And more importantly who's watching Patch now?" Ruby shifted herself to a more casual stance before continuing.

"Ain't a gal allowed some vacation time every once in a while?" said Ruby. "Anyway, why don't we sit with the others, now that everything seems to be lively around here?" A minute later, and they were all seated around a large table underneath the Pub's big chandelier, all with drinks – or in Ruby's case, cookies – nearby. Most everyone was sitting calm, with the noticeable exception of Jay, who was so brimming with excitement that if humans could combust he'd be a five-alarm blaze. He was the first to break the general banter that had been going on.

"So I bet you two have some real fine stories from your time at Beacon, don't ya?" Jay asked. "Like your first shootout with the Torchwick gang, Miss Rose? Was that when you got your start as a Sheriff? When you fought off his vile Fang goons and bested him in a duel?"

"Now hold on there a minute," said Ruby. "My start as a Sheriff-in-training did come after a shootout with Torchwick, but the Fang weren't involved. Where in the world did you hear that?"

"Oh right here in this here novel." Jay passed his book across the table to Ruby.

"'_The Heroes of the Remnant Frontier_: A retelling of the escapades of Ruby Rose and her posse of heroes, written by'… oh why am I not surprised. Look here." Ruby passed the book to Alexander. It only took Alexander a glance at the cover to realize what was amiss. He laughed as he passed the novel back to Jay.

"Let that be a lesson, boy. Even books will lie to you on occasion," said Alexander.

"So what _does_ that thing say about that shootout anyway, Jay? I'm curious now," said Ruby.

"Well I'm glad you asked. It says you were in a dust shop, minding your own business. When suddenly, the sound of breaking glass pierced the quiet of the shop. It was Torchwick and his goons from the Fang! It says you then dove for cover and hit mark after mark until you had defeated all or Torchwick's goons in a shootout while Torchwick fled to the street. It then says you caught up to him, and stared him down before he went for his gun, but you were faster. And shot Torchwick in the leg before he was rescued by a mysterious woman in red!" When Jay finished his retelling, Ruby gave a heavy sigh.

"Well at least they got one thing right", said Ruby. "But they got quite a bit wrong, too. For one thing, Torchwicks goons weren't with the White Fang – they were just regular guns for higher. And I never dueled Torchwick."

"So then. Why don't you fill them in on what really happened," said Alexander. "I'd be a shame if poor Jay here had to go off to Beacon not knowing the truth about what started the greatest time in the school's history."

"Alright then, I suppose it's only proper of me to do so," said Ruby. "But it's going to take time. And some more cookies. And a glass of warm milk."

"Ha! You really have changed a lot less than you thought you did."

"Quiet you! And all of you listen: This is the true story of the shootout that started what I like to call 'The Story of the Girl with the Black Ribbon'. It was thrity-five years ago – the frontier, and even the already established cities, were much more lawless places than they are now. Back then we were all much younger and prettier, and a bit faster, too. And me, I was just an innocent, fourteen-year-old girl who dreamed of being a Sheriff, who carried a six-shooter in a holster in her skirt, and who was about to have her first real gunfight."


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: "The Innocent Gunslinger"**

**Vale commercial district**

**Thirty-five years ago**

I remember the night well. It was near the end of summer, a summer I had spent furthering my hobby of building and testing firearms – odd hobby for a schoolgirl, I know, but it's who I was. And it was for the purpose of getting more materials to fuel that hobby that I found myself in a Dust purveyor in commercial Vale that summers evening. I knew the Dust store owner well – the place had good parts, so I had been dropping in quite regularly over the summer. The old man greeted me as I entered and headed for the back, where parts were kept on display. I was so absorbed in looking at parts that I didn't notice someone else entering the shop until I head them talking rather heatedly with the shop owner. And I'll admit I didn't find this all that odd – people come into shops and complain about things all the time. What tipped me off to the fact that not all was well was when a strapping young man no older than thirty, wearing sunglasses and a black hat, came over and politely informed me of his intention to rob me.

"Turn out yer pockets and stick 'em up, little lady. No-one has to get hurt. Ye can even keep yer Lien too – we jes want yer gear is all," said the goon. "Now turn around nice and slowly now."

I figured I could at least oblige of him of that much. I was armed with my six-shooter, and my rifle, but with my back to him, drawing on the goon would not end well, and I certainly couldn't do anything with the rifle in this situation. He wouldn't be expecting the six-shooter, though, so I figured if I turned around, I could catch the goon off guard and use his hesitation to get to a more advantageous situation. So, I turned around.

"Yeah, that's it little lady. No need to be scare – wait what?!"

As I had hoped, the goon was startled as soon as he saw the grip of my pistol, and in his surprised fumbled getting his own out of its holster. An easy target. My hand, already in position while I was turning, went right in place and pulled the six-shooter out of my holster and pointed it at the goon before he could even get his own out of its holster. I tightened my grip on the weapon and pulled the trigger. Then having missed I pulled the trigger again. This one hit it's mark… sort of.

"Augh! My leg! Bitch shot my leg," exclaimed the goon, who dropped his gun and fell to the ground clutching his kneecap. Yeah, I'll admit to not being the best with a pistol, but that situation was embarrassing even for me. I took a look at the front of the shop quickly – The store owner was ducking behind the counter, but he was reaching for something. I couldn't tell what. Two goons dressed like the one I shot were standing at Dust dispensers, filling up thermos-looking objects. At the other side of the counter from the store owner stood a man a little younger than the others wearing a white coat and a black bowler hat. He had orange hair, but no visible weapon, though I figured his cane could be used as a serious bludgeon if he needed to. That man, I would later learn, was Roman Torchwick, leader of the Roman Torchwick Gang. At the time, though, all I was able to learn before diving behind a store shelf was that even when unhappy the man oozed charisma, and that he had a sailor's vocabulary.

"What are you yellow bastards waiting for," exclaimed Torchwick, addressing his remaining goons. "SHOOT HER!"

Well it was a good thing I was already behind a shelf by then because the two goons in the front both drew their weapons and started shooting. Not very well, I might add – jars were shattering in places that weren't remotely near me. I holstered my pistol, and grabbed my rifle off my back, this one I have with me now, actually: A magnificent lever-action long-barrel that was made of cherry wood and packed quite a punch. The addition of a sickle as a bayonet was a personal touch of mine, I've always been better at slashing than stabbing. And it just felt right, ya know? But my favorite part is the rose engraving right here – my Uncle did that, I just love the way it-

Ahem.

Yes. Getting distracted. Sorry. Back to the story. Anyway, I took out my rifle, and waited for the rather impolite men currently shooting at me to run through their ammunition, which given their lack of trigger discipline, didn't take long. I popped out from behind my shelf, and immediately noticed that one of the goons was stupid and arrogant enough to not hide behind a shelf before reloading. I put him in the sights of my rifle, and squeezed off a shot, hitting the goon square in the shoulder and knocking him flat on his behind with a short shout. This startled the other goon, who had finished reloading his weapon. I clocked the lever and was ready to take another shot, when the goon took a bullet from somewhere else and went down. I looked in the direction the shot came from – it was the shop owner, who had been concealing a Winchester-make carbine under his counter. Looking towards the door, I saw that the leader of the goons had absconded from the store while the shooting was going on.

"Go after him," the shop owner said. "I'll be fine here if more of them show up, now that I'm prepared." He clocked the lever on his carbine as he said this. I nodded at him, replaced my rifle on the shoulder holster and rushed out the door. Torchwick was slightly ahead of me, but I was faster. Still, I decided to call out to him to see if I could get him to stop.

"Stop right there!", I called out. And, to my credit, he stopped, and turned around. But he was smiling, and that worried me.

"Well, so you managed to stop my goons," he said. "Truly in this market, you get exactly what you pay for. But I will say, I'm not at all surprised. Anyone walking around with something custom-made like that rifle of yours, they're either old and rich, or young and actually know which end of the gun points towards the bad guy." He twirled his cane around, and placed it against his hip. A little ways down from the head, it clipped onto his belt, and the head leaned forward a considerable amount. Something in that cane was making the head heavier than it should have been, but I wouldn't find out what it was until later.

"But you know, Red, I'm not like those small fries rolling on the ground in that fine establishment behind you. Unlike them, I know how to shoot, and I can at least get my gun out of its holster without it getting stuck." He crossed his arms, and stared right at me. "So do you really think you can stop me, Red? Do you?" He had issued a challenge, and I was not about to refuse.

"Yes. Yes I do," I said. And with that, Torchwick laughed, and we stared each other down –

* * *

_Hang on, didn't you say that you and Torchwick did't duel then?_

Hang on I'm getting to that. Staring someone down doesn't mean you're dueling them, it's just the prelude. But if you've got all the facts maybe I should let you tell the story?

_No, ma'am, I'm sorry for interruptin'. Please continue._

* * *

Right, where was I? Right, so Torchwick and I stared each other down. The world around us grew silent. Both of us were waiting to see who would draw first. I was mainly curious as to where Torchwick's gun was – he just kept reaching for his cane the whole time. Meanwhile my hand inched closer and closer to my rifle. It would have been a duel right then and there. But we were… interrupted. From an alley behind Torchwick, a female rider with a bandana over her face and a flaming red dress – and yes I do mean that it was actually on fire – rode out on a horse and scooped Torchwick off the ground and onto the steed. I would have drawn my rifle now, but I was frozen in shock at the fact that this mystery woman had also tossed a lit bundle of dynamite right at me. I fumbled with my rifle and couldn't get if off its holster. And that would have been the end of my story had a certain Sargent not shot the dynamite out of the air.

That's right. You were rescued by that cavalry Sargent named Goodwitch, right?

That's correct, I was. She had ridden from wherever she was when the first gunshots rang out, and she got there just in time to blast that bundle of dynamite out of the air. With a twirl she re-holstered her revolver, and brought out her carbine – a Sharps model, not good for ranged shots, but it was what she had on her at the time. The woman with the burning dress – who had somehow not singed Torchwick or the horse yet – reared her steed and galloped off. Sargent Goodwitch fired a few shots after them, but to no avail. She lowered her carbine with a grimace, and turned towards me. What she saw may not have been the most confidence-inspiring thing – imagine Jay's reaction to meeting me and Alexander, but on a fourteen-year-old girl with a rifle and a six-shooter.

"You will not believe how much trouble you are in", Sargent Goodwitch said. That night was a night of firsts for me. Not only was it my first shootout, but it was also the first time I was ever spanked with a riding crop, and the first time I was ever arrested. That night wound not be the last occurrence of any of those things, not in the slightest. But anyway, that's how the whole Beacon thing started.

**Abaline Pub**

**Present Day**

As Ruby finished her story, everyone at the table sat back a bit. Argyle looked over at the clock – the story had taken a surprisingly long time to tell. Jay was the first to speak.

"Wow, Miss Rose. That's totally different from what all the stories say. Guess these author types like to embellish the truth a bit, huh?"

"That they do," Ruby replied. "Authors always take a bit of liberty with their stories. They add action or romance where it never existed, or was never meant to exist. Gunfights and forbidden love do sell books, after all."

"And it's more than just that," Alexander added. "History has a way of placing everyone into "good" or "bad". And whichever bucket you'd be considered part of at the end, well, history will put you there for the entire story when it's finally re-told. But the truth ain't like that, especially that story you've got there. There were a lot of good people who turned bad, and a lot of bad people who ended up being good in the end."

"It was all one big crazy mess," said Ruby. "And we were near the head of it. Lot of inconvenient truths came out thirty-five years ago. Wouldn't be surprised if that book of yours glosses over them like they never happened." Alexander nodded in agreement. For a second the room was silent, and then Jay asked another question:

"If'n ya don't mind me askin' you then, Miss Rose, could you tell me more about what happened thirty-five years ago? Those stories are a large part of what inspired me to work to apply to Beacon. Ain't nothing going to stop me from going there. But I want to go with the truth, no matter how bad it is. Will you please tell us more about your time at Beacon?" Ruby considered this for a bit. She personally didn't mind. She certainly had the time – she was on vacation after all. But it would dig up more than a few bad, bad memories. But, maybe it was time to face them anyway. Still, she couldn't talk about everything – there were things that happened that other people were the start of. But for the sake of the boy, she made up her mind to set the record straight.

"All right, I agree," Ruby said. "On two conditions: One, you don't go bragging about this. I'm still on vacation and I don't want this to become a big thing. Two is that you bring a box of cookies each time. That's my price." Ruby extended her hand. Jay though for a second, and then shook it.

"Miss Rose, I would be honored to buy cookies for you! I look forward to hearing your stories."

"Ah, what the hell. I'll stay, too," Alexander interjected. "There were some things that I was part of that Ruby didn't know that much about or wasn't around for. Wouldn't want to leave you with an incomplete story."

"But don't you have business in Vale?" asked Ruby.

"I should be done before late – it's not a big job this time around," replied Alexander. Billy stood up from the table, and addressed everyone.

"Well, looks like this place is about to get quite a bit more interestin'. Guess I'll be seeing you folks tomorrow then."

"Certainly better than losing in chess to the Sheriff here," said Corcran. "Y'all can count on seein' me too."

"But it is getting late," said Alexander. "My people are going to be wondering where I am. I should head back."

"And I want to get some rest for tomorrow. Stories are tough work, you know!" said Ruby.

With that, the group slowly broke up, and headed to their various lodgings for the night. But not everyone was getting to sleep just yet...

* * *

"_You're kidding me! Ruby Rose is here, in town?_"

"Saw her down at the pub tonight. Some kid with stars in his eyes was there with just about the least accurate retelling of what happened thirty-five years ago. Ruby and I decided to start setting the record straight."

"_Well, I mean, ya gotta take us next time then! It's only fair._"

"**…**"

"_Oh come on man, what is there to worry about?_"

"No, she's right. I don't believe in coincidences. I'm also pretty sure that just like we're here "on a job", she's here "on vacation". Somethin's going on, and I don't quite like it. For now, you two stay out of sight. We'll play along, and if something happens, we'll react to it. In the meantime, I can use my new position as assistant storyteller to learn more about the town. But we've been travelling today. Get some rest, we'll talk more tomorrow."


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: The Searchers**

**The Wind Up and Pitch Club**

**City of Vale, 10:00 AM**

**Present Day**

The Wind Up and Pitch Club was one of Vale's premier establishments for dancing and drinking. And also, for those who knew the management, certain kinds of "business". That is why the club was open during the day despite peak hours being late at night. That is why despite it being broad daylight, the bouncers were still out in force. And that is why Ruby Rose, clad in scarlet cloak and hood, was walking up to the door. The bouncer on duty peeled himself off the wall and moved in front of the door, and put his hand out, while his companion folded his arms.

The bouncer addressed Ruby: "Sorry lady, can't let you in at these hours unless you're on the list, Name please?" Ruby said nothing, and simply flashed her Sheriff's badge to the bouncer. The bouncer instantly recognized the name.

"My apologies, miss. Please, follow Pinkerton here." And with that, Ruby was led inside. The interior was well-lit by electric lights, and it being the off hours, a nice old piano was playing, rather than more modern music for the younger crowd. It wasn't exactly Ruby's first time in this place – the club's owner, Hei Xiong, now a little over eighty, had been acquainted with Ruby's older sister Yang. However, the relationship between Hei and Yang was tense to say the least. As such, when Ruby and her team needed a crucial piece of information during the events of thirty-five years ago, it would eventually be Ruby who acted as the liaison – and this was an arrangement that Hei Xiong found much more agreeable. The two somehow hit it off, and their growing friendship eventually lead to Hei providing some much needed manpower near the climax of Ruby's adventures. When the dust settled, Ruby ensured Hei and his crew were properly compensated, which cemented Hei as the top information broker of Vale, which only furthered their friendship. Since then, Ruby continued to pay a visit every now and then, mostly for information on locating the occasional outlaw who attempted to evade the Sheriff of Patch by hiding in the big city.

As she was being escorted to Hei's quarters, Ruby passed a woman not older than twenty-five, with smooth auburn hair, issuing orders to an assembled group of grunts. This was Carmella Xiong, Hei Xiong's daughter. As Hei grew old and forgetful, his daughter was beginning to take on more and more of the responsibilities of running both of the Xiong's businesses. She had graduated from school a few years ago with a business degree, and had begun to take over management of the Club. Intelligence, however, was still firmly under Hei's control, and Ruby had finally reached his office. The man who was escorting her barely even had time to raise his hand to knock before Hei opened the door.

"I've been expecting you, Sheriff of Patch," said Hei.

"Junior. It's been far too long," replied Ruby. And with that, the escort left Ruby and Hei to their business.

"Tea?" asked Junior, slowly walking over to a table containing a tea kettle and bags of various tea leaves. "Had I more notice of your arrival I would have had sweets brought as well," added Junior.

Ruby politely declined. "I'm here strictly on business today, Junior. But not the kind I'm usually here for." Ruby pulled a single red envelope out of her pocket, and placed it on Junior's desk.

"One week ago I received this letter. No name, no indication of where it was sent from, and no address other than 'Vale'."

"And you want me to look into who sent it? That's going to take time, and money. Vale's a big place, and I can't just go around testing everyone's handwriting. Got anything to narrow it down?"

"Try reading the letter."

Shrugging, Junior brushed open the flap, and removed the paper within the envelope. He read aloud the contents of the letter:

_Dear Ruby Rose,_

_ You are cordially invited to the town of Abaline, in a week's time, for a gathering of legends from thirty-five years past. Be prepared to face yourself. You may forget the past, but the past does not forget you._

_ Regards,_

_ The Past_

Junior looked at the letter and grimaced slightly.

"And you're sure this is creditable?" asked Junior.

"I'm almost certain. I arrived there a few nights ago, and my suspicious were confirmed when a certain someone and his crew rode into town last night." explained Ruby.

"I know a lot of certain someones and a lot of crews. Pardon me for asking for clarification," insisted Junior.

"The Steele Gunners are in Abaline, Junior. Mercenary work that takes you within twenty-five miles of Vale isn't exactly common anymore," Ruby explained. At this, Junior sat back in his chair and sighed.

"All right, Ruby, I'll do what I can to investigate this. Give me the name of the place you're staying and I'll keep you updated," said Junior. Suddenly remembering things in his old age, he thought for a moment, and addressed Ruby again. "Say, Ruby. What about Blondie, and that Schnee girl?"

Ruby thought for a moment before replying. "I would be surprised if Miss Schnee wasn't sending one of her agents to scout the area first. And Yang? She's probably planning on showing up a day late to catch the sender off guard. Knowing her she sees this as a challenge more than anything else."

Junior again walked across the room to the tea kettle, and poured himself another glass. "Well, at least I'm not mixed up in all of this," said Junior. And with that, Ruby left the club, on the way passing a dutiful grunt on his way to Junior's office, who carried in hand a single black envelope, addressed to one Hei Xiong.

**Abaline Pub**

**6:00 PM**

As the day wound down and Carrot was preparing to close so that the next story session from Ruby could commence, Argyle was saying goodbye to the last patron to leave, a man in a suit emblazoned with the Schnee symbol.

"It was good talking to 'ya. Not every day we get someone from the Schnee Company here in Abaline."

"It was a pleasure, and thank you for the drink. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a report to make." And with that, the suited man left. As he walked out the door, Jay, who was walking fast as to not be late for the appointed time, nearly bowled him right over.

"Sorry sir!" Jay exclaimed as he nervously shuffled through the saloon doors and into the pub. He waved hello to Argyle, who was still polishing glasses. "Evening, Argyle!"

"Evening, Jay. That there crate for Miss Rose?" asked Argyle.

"You bet it is," said Jay. "I keep my promises to beautiful ladies."

"Well aren't you quite the charmer," Carrot teased, turning and winking at Jay.

"Well, thanks, I guess," said Jay, a slight stammer in his voice. Just then, Corcran walked through the door.

"Evenin' fellas! Evenin' Bil- wait, where's Billy?" asked Corcran.

"He hasn't come in yet Corcran," replied Argyle. "I'm sure he'll be here soon, though". Right on cue, Billy walked through the door, albeit in the middle of a heated discussion on holster placement with Alexander, whom had met him just outside the pub.

"I'm telling you, the hip holster is traditional! You can't just ignore that!" exclaimed Billy.

"You're trying to lecture someone five years your elder on tradition? Somethin' about that just seems wrong", replied Alexander. "And anyway, we used all kinds of holsters back then, just like we do now! With my leg holster, I don't have to spend time raising my arm first to draw. I just grab the gun, aim, and shoot. It all feels natural, and it's faster than those so-called 'traditional' holsters." The two men then looked up and realized they were in the Pub. Alexander was the first to apologize.

"Sorry about that. Billy and I got into a bit of a discussion on holster placement and how it would affect a duel," said Alexander.

"We'll continue this discussion another time. Say, where's that Ruby gal? Wasn't she supposed to be here by now?" asked Billy. As if on cue, another horse came up to the Pub, and off jumped Ruby herself. The greetings complete, Ruby accepted the cookies, and the group seated themselves around a table.

"Last time I told you all about the thing that got me in to Beacon. What happened when I got there was a different experience altogether. See, back in the old times when the Grimm were still around, Beacon had elaborate and often deadly entrance examinations, that would send students off to random places in the Emerald Forrest, forcing them to team up and retrieve an object from the woods without being killed by Grimm. Although this kind of things wasn't exactly practical any more due to the lack of Grimm, the headmaster of Beacon still maintained that some sort of initiation to test the skills of an incoming class was necessary. So the program was revised. Students were now launched to random parts of the forest, as before. Only this time, they had a day to form a four-person team from the first person they saw, and then the first group of two they saw. Only when four students were together did they have permission to attempt to track one of the professors hiding out in the forest, and receive from them a letter certifying they had accomplished their objectives. We had a day to do this, and I can still see the wisdom behind it – field work is the best way to get to know the people you're working with. And of course I end up with one of the most… interesting teams I could have possibly gotten."


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: The Wild Bunch**

**The Emerald Forrest**

**Beacon University, 6:45 AM**

**Thirty-five years ago**

Standing on that launch pad was when I finally managed to jerk myself awake. After a week that had passed lightning fast from looking for gun parts to a shootout to nearly being blown up to being arrested to I don't know what Glynda was trying to do with that whip to being at Beacon four years earlier than I should have been, I was drop dead tired. It was nice, however, to be going to the same school as my sister and in the same year. Which was good, because fourteen-year-old me was more than intimidated by being considerably less mature and less experienced than everyone around me, and having my sister Yang nearby helped to alleviate a bit of that. The cool, crisp air wafting over the plateau we were on shook off the last groggy weights of the week, and I took in the area around me. Glynda, right hand to the Headmaster, was looking over us all, with those glaring eyes of hers; the headmaster had yet to arrive on the scene. The other students were all shifting around in their spots. I could see Yang about three pads down. She met my gaze at gave me a quick thumbs-up before going back to surveying the forest. It occurred to me then that it was the first time I had seen my sister in full combat gear.

She wore what appeared to be a regular rancher's hat, that was woven with lead fibers to offer at least some protection against bullets; tall, thick leather boots with metal spurs and a short heel to them; A skirt of mixed leather and metal strips, covering short leather pants; around her stomach was her gun belt, with her two sawn-off shotguns as sidearms, and innumerable shotgun shells; her upper armor was a rather daring open-cut shirt that was cut off below the chest, and rather accentuated her… tactical assets, shall we say. Under the shirt was a tank-top of woven lead and carbon, dyed yellow like her hair. The main feature of my sister's combat arsenal, however, was that mean-ass shotgun of hers: Twin barrels, takes four-gauge rounds, breech loaded. Over the years, I've seen that beautiful weapon cut a man clean in two. Well, not exactly clean, but… before I get ahead of myself, I'll just skip to the part where I stopped ogling my sister's shotgun and the headmaster showed up. The man's name was Ozpin, and he conducted himself in a manner that was very calm, very friendly. Just being near him instilled a sense of seriousness and confidence – you could tell that whatever he had to say was important. This wasn't exactly the first time I had met him – he carried out my interrogation the night I was arrested, which is why I was even at Beacon in the first place. After looking over the forest for a bit, he took a sip of what I can only assume was either coffee or elixir, and turned to address us.

"I assume you all know why you're here," he said. "Each and every one of you have been handpicked by me and my staff as individuals who have demonstrated enough skill and dedication to be worthy of a chance at becoming Sheriffs. Soldiers of civilization who defend its few frontier vestiges from those who would seek to plunder and profit off those incapable of defending themselves, bringing at the very least a sense of law to a lawless land. For most of you, the only knowledge you have of Sheriffs is that you've obtained from your local lawmen and women, and from those silly little novels and books you all seem so fond of. Let me make this perfectly clear – those are not accurate depictions." The headmaster turned to face the forest again before he continued.

"Sheriffs must be strong enough to survive out on their own for days or weeks at a time, tracking a single target. They must be confident enough in their own ability to be able to take on even large numbers of enemies with only the resources they have on hand." Ozpin turned back to face us again.

"But most of all, they must not be so prideful that they seek to end every hunt with a duel." As he said this, Ozpin looked directly at me. I couldn't help but think the whole speech was directed at me. Regardless, he moved on to describing our task.

"Students of Beacon, before you stands your first major obstacle. Though in the field we will expect you to work alone, while you are here, you will work in teams of four. You will not get to pick these teams, and neither will the faculty. Before you launch, you will all be given a case with a colored card in it. Do not lose this case. You will then all launch off into the Emerald Forest. You will pair up with the first person you meet. Your pair will then form a full team with the first other pair you encounter. There will be no exceptions to these teaming rules. Let me make that absolutely clear. _No exceptions_. Disobedience of this directive will be met with strict punishment. Once your group forms, you will all open your cases. The cards inside are color coded to one of four professors camped out in various areas of the Emerald Forest. Each area is about one square mile. Each card will contain clues as to where this area is, and a full map folds out from the back of each card. The professors will be moving around within their areas. Once you reach the area where a professor is camped, it will be your team's task to track them down. If you manage to successfully track a professor, they will give you a golden case with a golden card inside. Do not lose this either – it is your proof of completion of the tasks given to you. Each professor only has one golden case to give out, and there are as many professors as possible teams. Should your team manage to meet up, find a target area, track down a professor, and return here, to this spot on this plateau, within twenty-four hours, you will have completed your first task as Sheriffs in training. Should you fail to do complete these tasks within twenty-four hours, your team will be pulled out of the forest, and you will be sent home. You are all equipped with a day's rations. There will be no questions. Students, prepare. You launch in thirty seconds." With that, Ozpin ensured that there _was_ in fact no time for questions. Everyone set themselves on the pads for the launch. Except for one kid at the end who seemed to have no idea what he was doing. I would later learn that kid was none other than Jaune Arc, but that's a story for another time.

Thirty seconds passed in what seemed like an hour, but suddenly, we all heard and audible click, and we were off! The launch pads pushed up and outwards, propelling us all into the air! As I sailed over the trees, it began to dawn on me that I should have thought of a way to slow my descent so that I didn't die on impact when I hit the-

* * *

_Hold up now. They actually launched you through the air with no kind of parachute or glider or… anything?_

They still do, Jay. At least they still did when I went through my initiation.

_Hmm, I don't recall going through anything like that._

Quiet, mercenary. You were counted as a transfer and didn't have to go through any of that.

_Hey, I was busy hunting a bounty while you were off trapesing around in the woods._

Yeah? Tell it when I'm done with this.

* * *

ANYWAY, I was thinking to myself that I really should figure out a way down, but then my fourteen-year-old brain kicked in again, more worried about having to spend four years with someone it couldn't make friends with then, you know, landing safely. By the time my brain finally finished scheming about how best to quickly find my sister without running into anyone else, I was only fifty feet over the trees and dropping fast. Working things out in my head quickly, I drew my rifle and attempted to use the sickle bayonet to grab a branch and swing around and up onto it.

What actually happened was that I burned off most of my speed and then used the rest of it to shoot myself towards the ground, which stung more than a little. But I was alive and able to move, so at least I wasn't dead. I immediately set off into the forest towards where I had seen Yang flying. It was a nice jog through the woods. Thinking back on the history of the school, I could only imagine how much more harrowing such a venture would have been back when the forests were infested with Grimm. Unfortunately for fourteen-year-old me, that daydreaming meant that I did not see that I was about to run into someone – someone who I had already managed to piss off a few days before when I ran into her by accident, knocking away her suitcase and nearly detonating the Dust inside it. That person was Weiss Schnee.

Luckily, I managed to stop my forward momentum just before I barreled into her. It wasn't as if she didn't notice me however, and the fact that her rifle was currently pointed at my face made that abundantly clear. Given that I had a rifle in my face and she was thinking of what to say, I had a brief moment of silence to take in the person standing before me. She wore leather coat, that was painted white, and a skirt that looked more appropriate for a ballroom dance than a showdown in the woods, though I wasn't exactly one to talk about that. Her rifle was an interesting model, apparently custom built. In fact, it was simply a revolver that could extend its length and range to that of a rifle by way of a barrel extension attached to the end of the gun on a hinge, meaning the extension could be flipped up or down on the fly. Strangely enough, the weapon didn't have a form of bayonet. When she turned to face me, however, I realized that she instead opted to carry an old rapier around as well. I realized this because when she turned, she holstered her rifle - or maybe I should say revolver? Revifle? Rifolver? Ahh, whatever – she holstered her weapon and suddenly I found a rapier to my neck as the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company addressed me.

"Alright, listen up _kid_," Weiss said, with a sharp accent on the work 'kid'. "I will _tolerate_ you. Nothing more. I don't know what you did to impress someone to get into Beacon so young, but I guarantee you that was a one-time deal. You have four years less experience than everyone else here, me especially. Were it up to me, you'd still be walking. But I'm not going to risk angering the headmaster on the first day. So congratulations, you get to ride with the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company. Just don't get in my way. Stay behind me and let me take the lead on the search. Got it? Good." And with that she put away her rapier and walked a little ways forward. "Come on, then. Let's go find the rest of our team." And with that, we began walking through the woods.

Now I was young and stupid back then, and headstrong as well. I took Weiss' assertion that I couldn't hold my own as a challenge. So naturally, as we walked, I was looking for a way to prove myself. So I decided to climb a tree and scout the area. Now normally this is a good idea if you remember to tell your partner that you're doing this. I did not. Using my rifle's bayonet to help me up the tree, I quickly reached the top, and surveyed for clearings, and for my sister, whom I could hopefully still end up on the same team as. And by luck, I spotted a yellow blotch that could only be my sister, in a clearing a little ways to the East. I was about to holler down to Weiss about this, but was stopped by the sound of gunshots and a somewhat angry-sounding cry of "RUBY!" See, the thing about forests is that while the Grimm may be gone, that was just the perfect opportunity for regular animals to move back in. Which meant that there were still things that would try to kill you. One of these things was mountain lions. And Weiss and I had apparently stumbled upon a pack of them. I hopped down a few branches to survey the situation.

When I got down to the lower branches, Weiss was wielding her gun in one hand, and her rapier in the other. She had shot one of the mountain lions dead, which kept the others from charging… for now. But it wouldn't be long until they realized Weiss couldn't get all of them. So I did the only logical thing I could think of to help: I yelled as loudly as I could, and jumped at one of the mountain lions, slicing it's head clean off with my bayonet. Feeling happy at having pulled off something so unbelievably awesome – well, to a fourteen-year-old at least – I pumped my fist in the air and shouted:

"How'd ya like that, Weiss!" She mostly just glared at me because instead of fixing the situation, we were now just both trapped in a circle of mountain lions. I'll admit it wasn't quite my finest hour. And now the lions were angry. Fortunately, my sister decided to show up at that time with a rescue. All of a sudden Weiss and I heard a loud roar coming from my right, her left. We both turned just in time to see a mountain lion get vaporized by Yang's mean-ass shotgun. Steam poured out from the breech of the run as Yang went to reload. A mountain lion took this opportunity to jump at this new threat. It was quickly taken down by a shot that seemed to come out of nowhere. Two more shots rang out, and two more lions went down. The remaining few were very confused at this point. At this point, Weiss and I took the opportunity to dispatch or frighten off the rest. Weiss snapped up the extension for her revolver and quickly fired two shots, downing two more lions. I kicked another in the stomach and quickly fired a snap shot at a fourth. At that point, the last few cut and ran, and we all finally had a moment of peace, to look over our newly formed team. Weiss and Yang I already knew, so I focused my attention on the new girl, a taller girl with black hair who I would come to know as Blake Belladonna.

One look at her and one might have mistaken her for the leader of an outlaw gang. She had a black hat with an oval brass emblem in the front. She wore a sleeveless white leather weave shirt inside of a loose black corset. She wore short cut boots, and sort black leather pants, over a pair of black stockings. Clearly a combination of materials meant to maximize her range of motion, which made sense given what she wielded. She carried no firearm save for two revolvers on hip holsters, and one other weapon which captured my attention more than anything else in her arsenal – an actual katana. Katanas were – and still are – the kind of weapons where even collectors have but mere replicas. An actual one, and a well-made one at that, is hard to come by. Yet here Blake stood before me, with what looked like a perfect specimen. Oh, how I longed to see its slender blade, but that would mean getting into another skirmish with forest creatures. Never in my life had I been more conflicted about something. I won't lie, I may have drooled a bit staring at that beautiful weapon, but if Blake noticed, she said nothing. Actually, I'm pretty sure she was more focused on the argument Weiss and my sister were having.

"She nearly got us _killed_!" exclaimed Weiss.

"But you're still here, aren't you," replied Yang. "And besides, do you really think you and Ruby couldn't have taken those mountain lions?"

"I have no doubt in my own abilities," retorted Weiss, "but I'm not sure I can do that and keep your idiot of a sister from being eaten."

Yang smiled, and addressed Weiss again: "Huh, I would have expected it to be the other way, really – at least my sister has weapons that would actually be useful. Who are you trying to impress with that flimsy little sword of yours? The King of France?"

"What's France?"

"No clue."

Weiss grunted and turned to the side, before responding to Yang's comment on her rapier. "Regardless, this rapier gives me a lot more range than that sickle of your sister's. And this weapon was made by the finest smiths at the Schnee company for the very purpose of defeating person and animal alike. Meanwhile, your sister's rifle there looks like it was put together in some old farm shed!" Needless to say, I took offense to that, and retorted in the way only a fourteen-year-old could:

"You take that back you big butt!"

That stopped the conversation right then and there. Weiss looked at me with a quizzical but bemused kind of stare, and Yang couldn't help but suppress a chuckle. Somehow I couldn't shake the feeling that although I had stopped the two from arguing, I hadn't made my own case much better. It was about this time that Blake decided it was time to get down to business.

"We've been out here for three hours. We don't know if any of the other teams have formed, or if any of the professors have been found yet. The longer we wait around, the higher the chance is that the professor we have the most information on will have already been found, and every time we waste time looking for a professor who no longer has a card, we delay ourselves that much more. We should compare our cases now."

Everyone reached for their cases and opened them, revealing their cards. I followed suit, and opened mine. Inside was a green card, with a picture of a bear on it. I flipped the card over, looking for some sort of writing, but none was to be found. Taking a quick glance around, we had lucked out – everyone in the group had green cards as well.

"Well," Weiss said, "At least we won't have to worry about another team finding our target first. Except… does anyone have *actual directions*?" As it turned out, the cards the headmaster gave us to lead us to the areas of play were much less that we had all assumed we would get. In addition to my picture of a bear, Weiss had a picture of a certain berry, and Blake had a picture taken from the top of the plateau showing a glider moving off to the East. Yang's card had apparently been vandalized by someone, as whatever her card depicted previously was now obstructed by a rather crude drawing. Through some quick discussion and deliberation, we learned that some areas of the eastern part of the Emerald Forest contained bears, and once Blake identified the what berry Weiss had, Yang remembered that she had seen those berries near where she landed, and hadn't seen them since. Realizing this mean that our target was somewhere in the eastern part of the forest with bears and berries, we set off for Yang's landing zone, and began searching from there.

We reached Yang's landing site around noon, and began searching from there. However, before long, it was beginning to get dark. A little over twelve hours had passed since we all set off from the plateau, and we hadn't seen any other teams show up. At that time for all we knew we were the last ones out there. We pushed on, hoping our target would have made some sort of light source for the night. Suddenly, I spotted the berries we were looking for.

"Look!" I exclaimed. "Berries!"

"Good eye, Rubes," commented Yang. Weiss simply addressed me coldly.

"At least you can do something right."

Blake, who was nearby looking at something else, called us over.

"I found bear droppings as well. We should try searching here." So, we all fanned out, making sure we were all within eyesight of each other. After about an hour, Yang discovered a small clearing. We figured our best chance was to investigate a landmark such as that. We decided that since it was dark, we still shouldn't spread out too much. For the first few minutes of searching, I couldn't shake the feeling we were being watched. In hindsight, that should have immediately tipped me off that we were.

Unfortunately for me, I wasn't very good at taking hints back then. So I ignored the feeling and didn't tell anyone. And shortly thereafter, the feeling went away, and I felt happy for not having burdened the team with my extraneous worries. Until I heard Weiss cry out "BEARS!" At once I turned around. Three of the creatures had come out of the woods and cornered Yang. I could sort of make out more eyes around the edges of the clearing. My first though was to get away from the edge of the clearing before something took a swipe at me. I jumped forward, rolled, and readied my rifle. A bear reared up to strike, and I fired a shot, striking it square in the top of the skull. The round penetrated, and the bear fell backwards, dead. The other bears startled by this, Yang took her opportunity to act, and whipped out her mean-ass shotgun. With a mighty roar, the weapon fired, and a second bear was lifted up and propelled across the clearing back into the woods. The other bears took this as an opportunity to charge. It seemed a wall of fur had come out of the woods at us. Like a-

* * *

_Ruby, you did not fight that many bears during your initiation at Beacon._

How would you know, mercenary? Were you there?

_Blake was._

…Right, forgot about that.

_I thought this was about disproving the exaggerations?_

I was gonna go back and retell it. Can't let me have a little bit of fun every now and then?

* * *

Alright, so it wasn't a wall of bears that came out of the woods. It was two. Weiss and Yang were dealing with the last bear that had cornered Yang initially, so Blake intercepted this one before it could hit the group. That was the first time I actually saw that katana in use. With a single strike she wounded the bear deeply and caused it to stagger back. Following through the swing with her right hand, she grabbed her left-side revolver with her now free left hand and shot it three times in the skull. The bear was dead. The last bear, I realized all too late, was coming for me. I tried to jump away, but it swiped with its paw and caught my leg, the bounded forward and stood over me, preparing to land a final blow. Suddenly from behind me I hear something like the clink of shattered glass, and the bear turned its head to the new noise, and was promptly impaled by a rather large icicle. Rolling over to look behind me, I saw Weiss holding her rapier pointed at where the bear was. The weapon itself was steaming like something that had been frozen that was just moved some place really warm. Weiss turned to Yang, with a bit of a grin on her face.

"I'm sorry which rapier is flimsy?" My sister responded by grabbing the weapon and bending it slightly. While those two were arguing, Blake came over and checked if I was okay. We all regrouped in the middle of the clearing, and that's when we heard clapping. We all looked over, and say a plump man in a red coat with a rather large beard walking over towards us, riding a cow.

"Ha ha ha ha, good show, excellent show, isn't that right Edgar?" said the man on the cow. Almost as if it could understand the man who sat atop it, the cow gave a hearty 'moo' in response.

"Moooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo." exclaimed the cow. The man riding it shifted himself and continued to address us.

"You four might be a bit confused now. I am Professor Peter Port, you may have heard of my exploits in the southern frontiers? Regardless, that was an excellent display of skill and quick thinking, all of you. From that display I can see you all have promising futures here. As I will be one of your professors here, I find it customary to invite you back to my camp to receive your card, and some food that isn't dry rations. Hup hup, Edgar!" With that, Professor Port turned his cow around and headed off back towards the woods. We needed to follow him for the gold card, and we were all feeling a bit hungry after the fight, so we weren't exactly in a position to refuse.

Port's camp was well-hidden not far from the clearing. It was apparently a hunting lodge the professor claimed to frequent – he took a liking to hunting, you see, though as he told us,

"My favorite game to hunt, however, is of a much higher caliber than mere animals. I remember the thrill from back in my days as a hunter in the field, tracking my prey to their hideouts, encircling them, stalking them, and finally trapping them before bringing them in for a reward. Yes, that most dangerous game which is humans. Such a pleasure to hunt, no other being is clever enough to compare!"

That and other such stories were relayed to us during our short visit, during which we feasted on game birds and mountain lion, a taste that Weiss especially relished, given incidents from earlier in the day. When we were finished with our meals, Professor Port entrusted me with the golden card.

"This, Ruby, is for you. It is proof of your team's success on this mission. _Do not lose it_, for you will not get a chance at another one. If you hurry back now, you'll be able to make it back to the plateau with three hours to spare. Good luck, girls. I've a feeling I'll be seeing you all later this year." And with that, we were sent off. It was only after we got outside and realized how dark it was that Port was right, we had spent a lot of time there, and it was already past midnight. Regardless, six hours was more than enough time to make it back to the plateau, where we found Ozpin and Glynda standing more or less where we left them. As we approached them I couldn't help but wonder if they had been standing there all this time. Anyway, I handed Ozpin our golden card, and he gave us a big speech about congratulations, and "well done overcoming your trials", et cetera. The part of his speech that I remember most clearly, though, was the last sentence, one I will always remember and always treasure, as it was the sentence that started my career.

"Welcome to Beacon, Sheriff-In-Training Ruby Rose."


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Stagecoach**

**Abaline Pub**

**8:14 PM**

**Present Day**

Billy was the first to break the silence when Ruby finished her story.

"I don't know how you people do it. Where in the heck did you people find _bears_? Did everyone at Beacon but me run into wild animals during the initiation? All I did was trudge through the woods with three other people for close to twenty hours looking for Professor Oobleck, who as it turned out was just hiding behind a bush back at the launchpads."

"Well I guess not everyone can be lucky like you", replied Ruby. Billy scoffed at this.

"Lucky? You people got all the fun. I had just walking. For twenty dang hours!"

"I nearly got killed by a bear!"

"But it was exciting, wasn't it?"

"That's not the point!"

"But it is my point."

The two continued with their back and forth for a bit, getting more and more ridiculous the more they got into their discussion, much to the amusement of the assembled listeners. Except, surprisingly, for Jay, who was looking down with a quizzical look on his face. Alexander noticed this, and inquired.

"What's on your mind, Jay?" Alexander asked.

"Actually, you," Jay replied. "You said somethin' about being counted as a transfer student and huntin' a bounty while Miss Rose was doing her initiation, didn't ya? What was that about?" Alexander chuckled a bit and sat back in his chair, and rested his boots on the table.

"Ah, what the hey. Might as well explain. So as I said I had been on missions for my family's mercenary company before. As a support role, yeah, but I wasn't exactly a stranger to killin' a man. Well, Beacon decided that due to my experience I would be admitted as a first year, but with the qualifications of a transfer student, _provided_ I came with my own team; see, transfer students were usually coming from their schools already grouped into teams, so rather than mixing them up and messing with team synergy, Beacon admits transfers on a team, not individual basis. What Beacon told me was that if I had three more people who could come with me, we'd all get training as if we were first-years, but we wouldn't have to take the initiation exam, thereby freeing up an extra week for us. As it just so happened, there were three other fighters my age in the company, all also the kids of other members of the crew. So, it was decided we'd all head to Beacon as a team – after all, this was an opportunity to get me fully trained to fully take over the company in a fraction of the time it normally would, _and _bring our three least-skilled fighters in line with the rest of the group. So, we took the opportunity." Jay pondered these words for a moment.

"So you came in with a full team then, but they put you with the first year class?" Jay inquired. It was Ruby who replied.

"Yes he did. It was a mite confusing for the rest of us – after all, it was an entire team that no-one saw during the initiations suddenly showing up out of the blue. But, we all got to know them after a day or two."

"As a mercenary, you get used to making friends with strangers fast," Alexander explained. "Though with all the gear we were packing when we came in, it wasn't that hard to impress a weapons enthusiast like Ruby. I still remember, as soon as you saw El you were all over him about his weapons. As I recall you'd never seen a cavalry lance before."

"They were antique pieces! They're still antique pieces, but even rarer now!" explained Ruby. "Speaking of which, El isn't in town with you, is he?"

"Indeed he is," Alexander replied. "I'll bring him over tomorrow night." Jay picked this moment to interrupt the discussion.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Steele, but I just can't get over – you said you spent the week of initiation hunting a bounty?" asked Jay.

"Oh right," said Alexander, suddenly remembering his offer. "I did say during Ruby's story that I'd talk about that, didn't I? Alright then, Argyle? Pour out some drinks, will ya? This story's got quite a bit more action to it. Now I told you that me and the three other Steele Gunners who attended Beacon with me had worked together before, but this bounty hunt was the first time we had done so on our own operation, instead of as part of a larger operation involving more of the company. We had taken a nice, easy bounty hunt to ease us into working together independently. Our target was a bandit by the name of Garnet Sanchez and his gang of seven men. They'd been terrorizing the town of Alemieda out on the planes for a good week or two. Shot the sheriff, a man way past his prime at 86, dead in his sleep, and basically had run of the town for far too long. Our job was to go in there and shoot the bastard and his men until they all lied dead. As you'll see, the job proved to be… not harder, but considerably more interestin' than it was made out to be."

**Alemeda Outskirts**

**11:25 AM**

**Thirty-Five Years Ago**

It was about eleven O'clock on the dot when me and three of my men rode up to Alemeda. I was at the front of the group, my attire not much different from what I have now – silver rancher's hat, white shawl with blue outlines, leather jacket with blue outlines over a rather thick white shirt, blue deerskin pants, and these nice boots and spurs here. Draped around my side I had my trusty cavalry sabre, and my two revolvers in leg holsters, and slung across my back was my rifle, a large-bore lever-action repeater with a nice scope for taking long shots. As you can see, we dressed fancy for our missions thirty-five years ago.

My right hand and scout, Elzam Rommel, was surveying the area with his binoculars. Unlike the rest of us, El wasn't exactly trained for close combat, but a better marksman at range and a faster gun I have never seen. His gear was similar to mine, except for his shirt had steel plates woven into it, as an extra measure of protection. His hat too contained a thin steel plate, inside that little circle-y bit that comes up from the base of the – you know what I mean. Another major difference between his gear and mine was that he eschewed the cavalry sabers the rest of us wielded in favor of a more traditional horseman's lance. Do not ask me where he found it, I have no more of an idea than you do. His gear was colored red and black.

The third member of the group, checking over her gear quickly, was Lavender Strout. Lav was a… quiet girl to say the least. There was something about her that just… made you feel uneasy. Her gear was purple-colored and was much lighter than what the rest of us had, most noticeably the lack of a leather jacket, instead just wearing a white shirt. Each weapon she had she inspected with care – her cavalry sabre, which was sharpened at least three times per week; her short-barreled 5-shot revolver, made specifically for dueling, was dis-assembled and cleaned on a twice daily basis; And her carbine, a cut-down Sharps single-barreled 10-gauge shotgun, was routinely checked for defects.

Our last man was Jaffar Braune, who was riding up to the group from the direction of the town. Jaffar was, despite his youth, one of the best agents in the company, though his skills outside of sneaking and information gathering were in need of development at the time. I had sent in Jaffar ahead of time to scout the town and locate Sanchez. I still don't understand how the man doesn't stand out anywhere he goes – a native of Vacuo, Jaffar dressed in the traditional garb of "Shawl that covers your shoulders and chest and leaves your stomach exposed". The shawl was brown with black outlines, as were his rather baggy cloth pants, which were tucked into his brown moccasin boots. Like El, Jaffar also wielded a close-in weapon other than a sabre – more appropriate to his role, Jaffar wielded two long knives that curved inward, designed to inflict maximum damage with each strike. These could be clipped on underneath the barrels of his revolvers for an even more devastating close-range combination, though Jaffar lacked a long weapon of any description.

"Any luck?" I called out to Jaffar as he approached. He stopped his horse, and took a second to look around before he spoke.

"The outlaw and his men are camped out in a local saloon, drinking their hearts away," replied Jaffar. "There is one man standing outside as a lookout, though given that no-one has come after them for a week, it's a fair bet he's off his game. The old Sheriff's office lies abandoned three buildings down, but is constructed in such a way that the horse tie-up and south entrance to the town cannot be viewed from the saloon."

"So then how about this," I postured. "We go in real quiet like from the south and tie up our horses behind the old Sheriff's office. Assaulting the saloon will be a war of attrition – they'll be able to dig in well there. So instead we'll draw them out. El will shoot the guard, and the rest of us will take positions to shoot them as they come out of the saloon. All in agreement?"

There were no objections, and with that, we rode off towards the town. Now Alemeda was a small trading post, that made its money as a stopping point on the way to the frontier proper. Most of town was a straight shot through, a single wide street. Between the corner of the sheriff's office where we posted up and the saloon itself was a surprisingly large amount of space. We had to make our shots count here. As Jaffar had said, the sentry outside the saloon was showing absolutely no interest in his job, probably wanting to join his comrades back inside. I motioned for El to come forward. He kneeled, brought his rifle to his shoulder, aimed, and fired.

The noise of the shot startled the rest of the bandits in the saloon, but it wasn't until the sentry's dead body fell past the saloon door did they realize they were under attack.

"Looks like we got us some little 'heroes', boys! Go kill 'em and bring me their skulls!" shouted Garnet at the top of his lungs. The rest of us drew our weapons and began firing at the saloon. Three men came out first, one with a rifle. El tracked him and shot him down almost immediately, while the other two took cover behind crates and began shooting back. Two more posted themselves at the windows. The gun battle stretched into two minutes in before another one of the bandits went down. Seeing he was in a losing battle, Garnet barked an order to his men to "get the stagecoach". The two men in the windows disappeared back into the saloon. Lavender made a long shot to the last man outside, and things quieted down a bit. I came off the wall and looked around a bit, making sure there were no other shooters before we headed in to the saloon. Suddenly, from the alleyway beside the saloon, a stagecoach pulled by two horses came speeding out, turned its back to face us, and stopped. Now I was thinking to myself "What are they gonna do with a darn stagecoach?" Regardless, I raised my rifle, and called out to Garnet and his men.

"Come out with your hands up and guns-"

"Go to hell you yellow sumbi-" I didn't head the rest of Garnet's statement as it was drowned out by the roar of the damn _gatling gun_ they had mounted in the back of that stagecoach.

* * *

_A gatling gun?_

_I still don't think he actually encountered one._

_Yeah, where the heck would those guys have found a gatling gun?_

Presumably the sheriff's office. Anyway, continuing on…

* * *

Fortunately I noticed in time and was able to weave my way back behind the Sheriff's office. Which of course was Garnet's cue to take off. I ordered my men back onto our horses, and the chase began. At first it wasn't hard to catch up – one horse with one rider is more than capable of overtaking two horses weighed down by a stagecoach, especially one loaded with a gatling gun. Speaking of which, one we got close to the stagecoach was when the fun began. If you think horse chases are fun on their own, they're even better when you're also trying not to get shot by a gatling gun. And the two blokes with rifles who decided to join the fun.

Fortunately, hitting moving targets is difficult, especially when those targets are horses. The riflemen on the side had a hard time marking us, and the gatling gun wasn't doing much more than preventing us from getting too close. Eventually we approached an area where the road dipped into a small valley. The stagecoach was going to go right through it. I signaled for Lav and Jaffar , who were already on the other side of the road, to go off and take the right wall of the valley. El and I took the right. We hit the valley, and the groups split. The gatling gun on the stagecoach was mounted in a way where it couldn't hit us at the top of the valley walls. Didn't stop the men with rifles from trying though. However, having to aim up made their already bad marksmanship considerably worse. Meaning even as we were gaining speed on the stagecoach trying to overtake it, El had more than enough time to line up a shot with his revolver. Bang! He fired once, and a rifleman fell off the stagecoach and tumbled along the ground. Bang! Elzam fired twice, and the second man was gone. All who were left now were Garnet and the gatling gun operator. As the end of the valley neared, I picked up more speed, to ensure I would be along the side of the stagecoach – the others followed suit. There was a slight hill back down to the road, and we charged down it, and suddenly were in line with the stagecoach! Lav, El, and Jaffar fired into the coach, hoping to hit the gatling gun operator, while I moved to the front to deal with Garnet. Unfortunately, he noticed me coming. He yelled something incomprehensible at me, hopped on one of the horses pulling the coach, disconnected it, and sped off. I motioned for the others to get away from the coach before it crashed, and sped off after Garnet.

Now I would have tried to shoot him off his horse, but this man was one of the best horse riders I had ever seen. He could get that animal to move with speed like no other horse I'd seen in my life, but I knew I could be faster if I just focused on the riding. It seemed like miles we carried on for, before I finally got close. I had to make my shots count to stop him – miss too many times and I'd fall behind again and risk tiring my horse. So, I drew my revolver, and fired, then re-holstered my weapon. The shot missed Garnet but hit the ground near one of his horse's hooves. The horse panicked, ran off the road, and bucked Garnet, who rolled and came to a stop. I circled over to him, and dismounted as he stood up. We were no more than thirty feet apart as we faced each other. See, he hadn't drawn his gun during the chase, and I had holstered mine to keep focused on the chase. So we both knew what it was going to come down to. Yes, Jay, this was an actual duel.

The eventuality always exists that you and your quarry may cross paths with guns in holster. And my parents while they were alive made sure that all our mercenaries knew and could teach how to deal with that. But training is nothing like the real thing, especially the real thing against people who you don't know by now how fast they are or how well they aim. So it's safe to say that despite my enthusiasm and skill, I was scared half to death. I sized up my opponent, who took note of my youth and smiled, thinking he had an easy catch. I moved my hands down to my sides – my leg holsters were placed so that even with my arms in a relaxed state I could draw a revolver out with minimal arm movement. I didn't have to reach up or down, just move my hand over to the gun and pull it out. My opponent kept his arms folded. He stood with stomach out, head tilted back, legs spread out shoulder width. Then, I saw something that put me a little at ease – the idiot had a chest holster. Know how I was arguing with Billy earlier about how leg holsters are faster than hip holsters?

* * *

_They are not!_

* * *

Well, Garnet had a chest holster. If hip holsters are slow, chest holsters are molasses. They're difficult to draw from, and prone to getting the gun caught at the end of the holster. I smiled a bit – even a legless leper would be able to draw faster than this idiot. I'll admit I laughed a little inside. But let this be a lesson to you in the importance of focus – I was so fixed on the fact that Garnet had chest holsters that I almost missed the fact that he was pulling his guns _out _of said holsters.

The thing about duels, though, is that what matters isn't who has their hand on their gun first, or who starts pulling their gun out first. You don't even have to draw or fire first to win. What matters in a duel is who can hit their mark first. So a good second late I drew my favorite revolver from my right holster, and aimed it at Garnet. I said that the first shot doesn't necessarily matter. But it's not a chance I would want to take now or back then. Fortunately, I didn't have to – Garnet's trigger finger was slow. Mine was fast. He took a shot to the heart, and hit the ground. I pulled back the hammer for another shot, just in case. Fortunately, the dead did not rise. The rest of my team then crested the hill, and called out to make sure I was alright. I replied that I was, and that we had completed our first successful bounty as a team.

**Abaline Pub**

**Present Day**

"And that, my friends, was the story of _my_ first duel," Alexander said, taking his feet off the table, and pushing his hat up slightly. He took a sip from the drink Argyle had placed before him prior to starting the story.

"I still don't believe you about the gatling gun," said Ruby. "I mean everything else I can understand but did you really fight a gatling gun?"

"If I had known it was gonna be an issue thirty-five years later I would have taken it as a souvenir. Anyway, the important part is the duel."

"So your first duel was against an actual outlaw?" asked Jay. "That's… wow, that's amazing! I bet that was a story to tell to the other first-years!"

"Actually, I didn't," replied Alexander. "Not at first, at least. I figured that all the other first years had at least similar experiences by then, and mostly only ended up retelling it when people asked. Which happened a lot – it's not every year a team of professional mercenaries ends up in the same school as you. And I'll admit it was quite fun to tell all those-" Alexander stopped suddenly. He had looked over towards the door and seen something. Jaffar, who was standing just outside of view past the saloon doors, just outside of view of everyone but Alexander.

"Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, but it appears something has come up, and I will have to cut my stay tonight short. I will see you all tomorrow, though, and I'll bring El like I said I would. Have a good evening everyone." And with that, Alexander got up and left, leaving the others more than a bit confused. They decided to break up for the night at that, and all dispersed to their dwellings and lodgings. Except one. Ruby, who had caught sight of Alexander moving behind a building. She decided to follow. When she got to the corner, she could hear Alexander, and another voice she recognized talking. She decided to listen in.

"Alright, Jaffar. I won't complain about you risking exposing yourself because you wouldn't have done that if it wasn't urgent. What's up?"

"More people may know we're here now. The men of Hei and Carmella Xiong have been investigating letters similar to the ones we received. I do not know whether this was because Hei received a letter as well or because someone tipped them off. But overhearing idle chatter I heard one of them mention 'hearing that the Steele Gunners were in town'."

"Hmm... Well we were pretty certain Ruby had a letter as well, so I wouldn't be surprised if she's having Junior's men look into it. Might have had to tell him that we were in town to get him to believe the creditability of the letter. I don't think Junior's men are much to worry about – they're surprisingly good at keeping secrets. Goes with the job I guess. Are they the only ones that know we're here?"

"…No. Schnee may now know as well."

"You're figuring this from the Schnee agent that was here earlier?"

"No. Though there are some here who I doubt would be able to keep a secret, the barman Argyle is not one of them. He is a man of surprising integrity and likely has not said anything. On the other hand, the Schnee Operative who was here earlier could be a sign that Schnee knows we're in town and wants to track our movements."

"Yeah, but how would she have found out? We came in nice and quiet like, and you didn't see any on the way in."

"All correct. She may have made a guess based on some sort of unusual movement in the area?"

"Hmm… What if Schnee got a letter as well? Her investigation would explain the presence of the operative."

"It's highly likely."

"Yeah, that seems the most likely cause."

"…"

"Oh, I get it. You want to go into the city to investigate?"

"We'll be able to do more than idle speculation if you allow me to gather more information."

"Consider your request granted, then. Just be careful in there, and don't start anything too big. The last thing we need is to bug out from a big headline. For now, let's get back to the inn."

At this, Ruby quickly darted away, before Alexander and Jaffar could notice her.

**Schnee Dust Co.**

**Vale Branch Office**

**Present Day**

"…And the two of you are certain this information is correct?"

"Yes, Lady Schnee. If nothing else the creditability of the letter checks out." Schnee nodded her head in response. She had received this strange letter almost two weeks ago, and until now her investigations had turned up nothing. Yet now, three of the major players from all those years ago had turned up – Hei Xiong and his organization had started moving again, searching for answers to questions about some thing that had Hei _very_ worried; The Steele Gunners, the mercenary group that had become legendary after the events of thirty-five years ago, were in Abaline, and not only were they in town, but the group that came was not just some random grunts, but their leader and some of his closest commanders; And the capstone of it all, was the confirmation that the legendary Ruby Rose was too, in Abaline. Still, nothing else had developed, so for now, it was wise to simply continue watching.

"Continue observing the situation. I suspect that the Gunners are aware you know of them, and that their spymaster has deployed. Avoid him as best you can – if he sees you, he may try to hunt you down. And most of all be careful with your investigation – I don't want this turning into a headline."

"As you wish, Lady Schnee." And with that, the two agents backed out of the room, a throne room of pure ice. And the lady on the throne smiled. Things were undoubtedly going to start getting _very_ interesting around Vale.


End file.
